


I'll See You Around

by orphan_account



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Non-binary character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-11 09:36:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7042738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex tries to help someone out. Turns out his neighbours are just crazy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first fic I've written so please do not be too harsh in your criticism. However constructive criticism is always welcome and feel free to tell me if I've written the characters wrong or something. Here goes......

It was four in the morning and Alex was trying to sleep, god knows he needed it. After finishing the essay he had to have written for tomorrow - well about a few hours away now – at around half three he had crawled into bed and attempted to get some sleep. After tossing and turning for half an hour he was finally abut to drop off.

Well, that was until he heard a scream coming from the next apartment over.

Alex grumbled and sat up, wondering if he should go and check on the person next door, to see if they were okay. Reluctantly he scrambled out of bed, not bothering to put a shirt on, and made his way out of his apartment door and along the corridor to the door of where the scream seemed to be coming from. He chapped the door lightly.

_I really do not want to be dealing with the broken ankle of a stranger who has decided to trip over a bath right now_ , Alex thought when the door didn't immediately open.

He knocked on the door a little more forcefully this time, and he heard a small laugh coming from inside the apartment before the door clicked open, to reveal one of the most attractive guys Alex had ever met.

“What can I do for you?”, Attractive Guy said to Alex. He had shoulder-length, brown hair that curled into ringlets all the way down. He had a cute button nose and all over his face was a smattering freckles that were only a few shades lighter than his brown skin. He was also shirtless, and seeing his well-defined abs made Alex wish that he had bothered to pull on a jumper before coming out. 

Alex realised he had been staring for a bit too long than was entirely appropriate for meeting a stranger. He quickly shook his head to clear his mind of any absent thoughts. “Er, I heard screaming coming from in here and I just wanted to see if anyone was hurt?” he eventually replied.

“Oi, get back in here, we’re not finished yet,” called an accented voice from inside. Alex panicked. Had he just interrupted them having sex? Was that scream from pleasure and not pain? Had he just made a fool of himself in front of this new and very attractive person?

“Oh my god Lafayette, we called a truce, gimme a break!” Attractive Guy yelled back into the apartment before spinning back to Alex to hopefully explain what was going on.

“Sorry, no nobody’s injured or anything, we just may or may not have been possibly having a nerf gun fight even though we are technically adults and it’s four in the morning?” he phrased it like a question, and, to be honest, Alex too would feel a little bit embarrassed if a stranger had come to his door when he was playing a kid’s game with the Schuylers at four o'clock in the morning.

“So an ambulance does not need to be called then?” Alex asked, just wanting to confirm that he could go back to bed and not worry about the safety of his neighbours.

“Nope, well, maybe when Lafayette gets pissed that they lost and tries to shoot me at point blank range, we might need an ambulance then but so far we are good. I’m John Laurens by the way, only moved in a couple of days ago, I hope I haven’t caused too much disturbance.”

John Laurens.

“My name is Alexander Hamilton. But call me Alex. And nah you haven’t caused too much disturbance apart from, well, starting nerf gun fights and screaming and accidentally waking your next-door neighbours up and-”

Alex was cut off from his rambling by the person who must have been Lafayette swinging the door open all the way. They were taller than Alex by a fair bit and had hair that stretched another few inches above their head.

“Why are you pulling Laurens away from this very important fight? This is a battle that will not be stopped for much longer,” they exclaimed (with a definite French twang), whilst aiming a nerf gun at Alex’s forehead.

John let out a sigh. “Alex, this is Lafayette, my friend who is about to have his ass handed to him. Lafayette, this is Alex, he heard a scream and came over to make sure everything was okay.”

Lafayette gently lowered their gun, and extended their hand towards Alex. Alex warily took it, perplexed by the whole aura that Lafayette gave off.

A loud grunt had echoed through the apartment and a huge, muscle-bound man made his way into Alex’s view. “What’s taking so long? We need to get back to the- oh.” Him and Lafayette shared a significant look, before he too, shook Alex’s hand and introduced himself. “Hercules Mulligan, best tailor in Manhattan.”

“That’s a bit of a bold claim Herc, you've still to finish your degree.” John said and Lafayette snorted. Alex was thoroughly confused by what was happening. He tried to sort out in his head where he was, and how just one thought about the well-being of another human had landed him in the middle of three very attractive people bickering about technicalities after having a nerf gun fight at four in the morning.

“Well,” Alex cut through the bickering, addressing them all, “I have to be up for a 9 am class so I think I’ll just…” he trailed off, and started walking backwards towards his apartment slowly.

“Hold up,” John called, “You at Columbia?” 

Alex nodded.

“Maybe I’ll see you around, on campus and stuff?” John sounded hopeful, and, to be honest, Alex felt that too.

“Yeah, I’d like that. Good night” Alex waved as John echoed the sentiment and set off back down the hallway to his apartment. 

When he got in, he flopped back onto his bed, trying desperately to close his eyes, get some sleep and not think about John Laurens.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not know how Uni works and especially not American ones, so give me a little bit of artistic license here.  
> Also, I do apologise if I use any words that aren't "Standard English" because honestly I cannot tell anymore

Alex groaned at his alarm bleeping at him to awaken. He rolled over to turn it off. 8:30. He had 15 minutes to get dressed and breakfasted before he had to leave on his 15-minute walk to take him to campus. Ugh.

He rolled out of bed and made his way into the kitchen. He could see the evidence of Angelica’s breakfast on the counter, as she had rowing at some ungodly early hour and eats breakfast rapidly – and apparently forgets to tidy up as well. He switches on the coffee machine and makes some cereal. Just as he is sitting down, Eliza walks into the room.

“Morning Alex,” she greets him. “How are you?” She sits down next to him and takes a swig of his coffee. “Bleugh, since when did you take sugar in that?”

“Since always,” Alex shoots back. Four hours sleep, although he has run on less, does mean that he is just a little bit cranky before his morning caffeine boost has kicked in.

“Okay then mister grumpy pants. What was all that racket last night? I heard all the door open.” Eliza asked.

Alex sighed. He absolutely could not be bothered explaining that right now but Eliza would think he was mad at her so he had to.

“I heard a scream coming from the apartment next door.” Eliza gasped. “No, no, no it wasn't anything bad, well I thought it was at the time so I can see where you’re coming from here-”

“You’re rambling again, get on with the story,” Eliza said as she whacked him on the arm.

Alex put his hands up. “Okay, okay. So I went next door to see what was wrong, right?”

“Right.”

“And then, instead of some old man opening the door with a broken ankle or whatever, literally the most gorgeous man I have ever seen opens it and he was shirtless. So I’m internally freaking out and then his friends come to the door, a French person and a tailor, who were both about seven-foot-tall, so now I’m intimidated, and yeah, it turns out the scream was from them having a nerf gun war. Oh also they go to Columbia as well.” Alex had barely taken a breath during that whole thing and Eliza genuinely looked impressed.

“Are they the guys that just moved in a couple of days ago?” Eliza questioned. 

“Umm yeah, why?”

“Oh, no reason. Just which one is the really cute one?”

“Er, John? The one with the curly hair and freckles?”

“Okay. That’s cool. Anyway you need to leave in like three minutes or else you’re going to be late for class.”

“Oh shit, yeah, thanks Eliza.” Alex kissed her on the head, and she blushed like every time he does it. They had dated when they were in high school, bt they decided they were better off as friends, and Eliza finding out she was actually gay sort of put a definite end to the whole thing, with no hard feelings of course.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The walk to campus was pleasant, a warm morning with a slight breeze to prevent it from being too hot. He had arrived at the lecture hall in which the Intro to Politics class was being held just in time, and managed to find a seat in the middle of the hall – where he could take notes in peace and still be able to shout forward if he felt the need to debate anything being taught, which was quite often to be fair. 

The professor walked in at precisely 9 and so did a flood of students from the back door – all saying variations of “I'm not late.” Alex didn't think he recognised anyone in the crowd until one mop of curls, on top of a freckled, tired face caught his eye.

John walked over and fell down in the seat next to Alex with his head on the desk. He groaned an acknowledgement and Alex snickered.

“Why, pray tell, were you having a nerf war with your flatmates, at four in the morning, if you had a 9 am class the next day?” Alex smirked. 

John looked up at him and gave him the middle finger, before retrieving his notepad and pencil from his bag. They both settled down to listen to the lecture, which was not as interesting as Alex thought it would be. 

To combat the boredom, Alex thought he would pass notes to John. 

_hey. Why actually were you doing that last night???_

_Idk man first night with all 3 of us in the apartment guess we got carried away_

_Oh okay that makes sense when I moved in with my flatmates we all just had a movie night and braided each others hair tho_

_You do look you have nice hair to braid, mine is so thick it cannot be tamed. You live with the schuyler sisters, right???_

_Yup . though its siblings peggy – the youngest – is agender, but tbh they have the best hair out of the lot of us_

_Oh that’s cool Laf is nb and they have the best hair out of all of us too. Was that them I heard leaving at like 6???_

_No that was Angelica, she rows for the school team and train at ungodly hours (also laf has a hard time competing w your hair)_

_Ahhh no way mulligan rows too what a coincidence – that’s why he looks like he could bench press a fucking tractor but he really is a big softie (and thanks uwu)_

They continued exchanging notes like that for the rest of the class and had already exchanged phone numbers by the time the class had ended. As they were walking out of the class they continued their steady chatter. Alex learned John was majoring in Pre-Law and had moved from South Carolina, where his father was the famous Republican senator Henry Laurens (who currently did not know of his current room-mate situation, because he would probably bring him back home) and John hated his father and everything he stood for. Alex didn't like to reveal much about his background, before the Washington’s had adopted him, so he said just that. The Schuylers were close family friends of his foster dad’s so when they all ended up in the same city for college, well what was the point in paying for two separate apartments?

“So, Alexander, where are you off to now?” John asked once they were in the centre of the quad.

“I’m off to the library. Get ahead on some of the reading, y’know?” Alex replied in the same tone of voice.

“Smart move, man. I have a class in like 5 minutes, so I’ll be heading off there,” John smiled a little sadly. Alex felt disappointed, but he couldn't really explain why. Sure John was hot, but they had known each other for less than 12 hours, he couldn't be developing a crush, could he? They did get along like they were old friends, but that was it. John just wanted to be friends. _God Alex stop projecting_ he thought.

But when Alex went to shake hands, John went in for the hug, and if it lasted a little longer than generally acceptable for a near complete stranger, then well, that was just between John and Alex.

John started walking away backwards, but before he turned his back he shouted, “I’ll see you around, Alex.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hurray for obvious exposition
> 
> Honestly its 1 am and an In The Heights Movie just got confirmed and Lin is going to be in Mary Poppins and im just a bit emotional rn
> 
> Follow me on tumblr @reysolo-ftw.tumblr.com


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I again know nothing about how Universities work in my own country, nevermind them in the US

Alex was in the library studying, completely engrossed in his work. The classes were pretty boring and the reading easy, so he found that he could work well and out his headphones in without getting distracted.

  
_Ping._  
He looked up from his work to check his phone.

  
**From: John Laurens**  
_Heyyyy Alex me and laf and herc are all going to get lunch and laf was asking if you wanted to come_

  
Alex checked the time. He still had another hour and a half until his next class and he could do with grabbing a bite to eat.

  
**To: John Laurens**  
_Yeah, I’ll be there, where is it we’re going?_

  
**From: John Laurens**  
_you know that really fuckin hipster café about a block from here???_

  
Alex did know it. He sometimes went there to study when the library was closed and Angelica had organised a party in their flat. Honestly, it was nightmare.

  
**To: John Laurens**  
_Yeah, sounds good. Meet you there in about ten?_

  
**From: John Laurens**  
_Sure, btw apparently the schuylers got an invite??? I think laf is trying to establish a #squad_

  
That made Alex smile. He liked the idea of forming a larger group of friends with these guys. They all seemed eccentric enough to not be too weirded out by the antics of the Schuylers (especially when drunk).

  
**To: John Laurens**  
_Okay cool, see you then_

  
Alex packed all his books and his laptop into his backpack and made his way down to the café. It was a nice place, with big windows covering the front, and an assortment of mismatched chairs and tables, which must have always been there.

  
He could already see Lafayette, Eliza and Peggy sitting at one of the big tables, with a couch on one side and a few stools on the other side, deep in conversation about one thing or the other, Lafayette and Peggy making big hand gestures at each other, and Eliza trying to calm them down, but to no avail. He walked over and sat down beside Eliza on the couch, picked up a menu and stared at it trying to decide if he wanted soup or sandwich.

  
He was deep in this train of thought when he heard the door chimes and looked up to see Angelica, Hercules and John walk in. Angelica and Hercules grabbed the last remaining stools, and John just stared at Hercules for it.

  
“Alright, budge up, budge up,” John told Alex and Eliza, as he tried to squeeze into the middle of them. “Nope this isn’t going to work, Alex you’re smallest you go in the middle.”

  
“Oh my god I’m like an inch shorter than Eliza this isn’t fair,” Alex grumbled but shoved along anyway.

  
“Yes but you also have no muscles on your bones, and _I_ do,” Eliza poked him in the ribs. Alex squealed, and began muttering about the injustice of the situation. John sat down next to him and suddenly he was pressed against John’s side, barely enough room to eat. The heat from John’s arm was seeping through his shirt, and Alex really had to focus back in on the conversation to hear what was going.

  
Angelica had taken control of the group – she had a very commanding voice – and had begun to speak. “So, if we all want to get to know each other we really should, well, get to know each other. So we’ll go around the group and say, what? Name, year, major?”

  
“And pronouns,” Peggy chimed in from where they were still engaged in their phone, used to Angelicas antics.

  
“Oui, I will go first,” began Lafayette, “I will save you the trouble of my full French name and titles because it is far too long for anybody to comprehend, so I am Lafayette. I am a sophomore, working towards a major in American Politics, and I use they/them pronouns.”

  
“His real name is Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette,” John whispered in Alex’s ear, as Hercules began talking, (sophomore, fashion, he/him) and Alex was truly taken aback. _They were a Marquis, these people are so much posher than me, oh my god._ “We call them Gilbert to annoy them when they are being a little shit though, which is most of the time.”

  
John smiled across at him, and his stomach did a weird flip. Alex had to keep reminding himself that he had only just met John, that he couldn’t develop a crush when he was barely a friend yet. John seemed like a good person and Alex genuinely wanted to be friends with him.

  
Eliza nudged him in the side, apparently it was Alex’s turn to share with the group. “Alexander Hamilton, sophomore, and I am majoring in Political Science and Government Policy. Oh and he/him.”

  
“Yes, and he never, ever, ever shuts up about politics, and social issues,” Peggy interrupted, “Well, he never shuts up, full stop.”

  
“Amen to that pegs,” agreed Angelica.

  
Everyone looked to John, waiting for him to start, who was staring into space and didn’t notice anyone. When he did notice though, he jumped about a foot in the air, sending everyone into fits of giggles.

  
“Er, um I’m John?”

"You sure about that, bro?"

  
“Fuck off Mulligan, anyway I’m John Laurens, sophomore, and Biological Conservation with a PoliSci minor, coz why not? And he/him.” John elaborated. Alex was surprised that John was interested in such wildly different things enough to do them both at a collegiate level. It intrigued him enough to strike up a conversation about it.

  
While Alex was deep in conversation with John about his majors, that eventually became talking about their shared enthusiasm in activism etc. Angelica and Hercules were deep in conversation about rowing and workouts: comparing the men’s with the women’s, comparing boats, comparing seats. Peggy, Lafayette and Eliza looked at the two pairs of conversation partners in astonishment that anybody could use that much jargon while conveying so much passion. Alex had his arms flailing about as much as he could in the middle of the couch and John’s face was lit up with energy that Lafayette hadn’t seen since they had last attended a rally with John (that was a mistake, as it just ended in a bust lip and a black eye, one for each of them).

  
The time passed quickly for Alex, and before he knew it, his food was cold and the alarm for his next class went off with a loud bang. _What possessed me to put a cannon sound as my alarm for_ everything _?_ (He knows exactly what it was, it was him both refusing to wake up and not stopping working for anything that wouldn’t startle him.)  
“Sorry, sorry, I have to go I have a class now, but I’ll see you all later right?” Alex said, as he stumbled off the couch and over everyone’s legs to escape the group.

  
“Mon ami, why do you have an alarm for class and why is it a gun?” Lafayette smirked.

  
“Ah, va te faire foutre, Lafayette.” Alex replied as Hercules moaned because yet another of his friends was bilingual.

  
“También, hablo español.” Hercules groaned louder.

  
John then perked up just as Alex was turning around. “Veré tú alrededor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I do not speak Spanish very well and can only swear in French and say I love cheese (which tbh is all you need) so I apologise if it is wrong, please correct me.  
> And sorry for late updates, I apparently decided to start writing this the week of my school show, my choir concert, the national championships and the week I go back after exams so....... yeah I'm an idiot.  
> Feedback and comments are always appreciated :)))


End file.
